“Dallas Stars Shock Colorado Avalanche in Thrilling Double-Overtime Victory, Secure Spot in Western Conference Final!”

DENVER – Matt Duchene’s goal at 11:42 of the second overtime secured a 2-1 victory for the Dallas Stars over the Colorado Avalanche in Game 6 of the Western Conference Second Round at Ball Arena on Friday, sending the Avalanche out of the playoffs.

“I don’t even know what I did,” Duchene said about his reaction. “I found myself on my knees, just like the last time I scored in overtime, but I don’t really know how it happened.” It’s just pure joyes.”

Joe Pavelski found the loose puck during a chaotic net-front scramble and sent a backhand pass to Duchene, who fired it over Alexandar Georgiev from just below the right face-off circles.

“From what I recall, it was a give-and-go. ‘Dutchy’ made a nice play to me. I got a stick on it,” Pavelski said. “It’s just a battle. I saw ‘Dutchy’ out of the corner of my eye and tried to get it to him. For me, you’re battling, and when it gets to him, I kept an eye on the net.“It was fantastic to see it go in.”

The Stars are set to compete against either the Vancouver Canucks or the Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference Final. Vancouver leads that series 3-2, with Game 6 scheduled for Saturday.

This marks Dallas’ second consecutive trip to the conference final, having lost to the Vegas Golden Knights in six games in 2023.

Mason Marchment almost won it for Dallas in the first overtime at 12:31 with a wrist shot from the slot, but the goal was immediately disallowed due to goaltender interference against Duchene. The call was upheld after a video review.

“It’s indescribable. You’re so happy, and then you see all the boys hopping over the bench, but then I saw him waving it off,” Marchment said. “The explanation I got was ‘Dutchy’s’ [backside] was over the line. His feet were outside, but his [backside] was over the line. That’s the explanation I got.
“That’s tough. It’s a momentum swing. Sometimes it can be a big break for them. I think they maybe pushed a bit after that. We got a break at the end there, it squeaked out to ‘Dutchy,’ and he scored.”

Jamie Benn tied the game early in the third period, and Jake Oettinger made 29 saves for the Stars, the top seed from the Central Division.

“That gave us the spark because we’ve got a mix of older and younger guys, and they were just fantastic. It’s hard to believe with a gauntlet like that that you’re only halfway there. But we’re going to enjoy and need the time off here, and get ready for the next round.”

Mikko Rantanen scored, and Georgiev made 36 saves for the Avalanche, the third seed from the Central.

“It was exhausting, no question,” Colorado Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “You could see our energy level drop as the periods went on, but our guys played hard. They played hard every shift and defended hard.
“They’re a really good team. They’re disciplined. They’re deep. They got great goaltending, [are] well-coached. They got everything you can ask for in a team. They’re a contender in my book. It [stinks]. You put so much into a season as a group and come up short. It’s never a good feeling.”

Rantanen gave the  Colorado Avalanche  Avalanche a 1-0 lead at 5:48 of the second period on the power play, roofing a wrist shot short side over Oettinger’s shoulder from below the right circle.

“It’s one of those games where you feel you played well enough to win and force a Game 7, but it just didn’t happen,” Zach Parise said. “It’s a bit of a shock when it ends suddenly like that. It takes some time to process everything, but it’s a tough way to ended.”

Benn tied it at 1-1 at 1:56 of the third. He received a behind-the-back pass from Evgenii Dadonov in stride and maneuvered past a sprawling Georgiev before scoring on a backhand into the open net.

“We’ve played with the lead a lot this series, and then we got tested being down,” Pavelski said. “I think the second period, we weren’t great and were kind of stubborn about putting pucks in and creating chances. We tied this game up by forechecking and creating some offensive zone time.
“Just a great play by [Tyler Seguin] and [Dadonov] and [Benn] to get us that one.That was a huge turning point for us. You could feel the energy coming for everyone.”

NOTES: Duchene’s series-clinching goal in a multi-overtime game makes him the fourth player in Stars/Minnesota North Stars history to achieve this, alongside Brenden Morrow (fourth overtime in Game 6 of the 2008 Western Conference Semi-Final against the San Jose Sharks), Brett Hull (third overtime in Game 6 of the 1999 Stanley Cup Final against the Buffalo Sabres), and Joe Nieuwendyk (third overtime in Game 4 of the 1999 Western Conference Quarter-Final at Edmonton). … DeBoer earned his 17th series win, which is tied for the second most among active head coaches. Only Jon Cooper (18) has more.